“It is not possible to create a better future for the labor market without creating a better future for manufacturing at the same time,” Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal), José Manuel, said on the first day of the event. Salazar-Xirinachs.
In a video conference message, the Director-General of the International Labor Organization, Gilbert Houngbo, warned that inequalities in access to employment would widen unless concrete action is taken now at multiple levels.
He said medium- and long-term measures are needed to improve education, skills development, match supply and demand for jobs and anticipation aimed at increasing workers’ productivity.
The first day of seminar activities analyzed the region’s economic and social crisis, aggravated by the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the data presented during the seminar, between 2002 and 2014 employment dynamics was the key to reducing poverty and inequalities, but from 2015 this trend reversed.
ECLAC pointed out that last year in the region, 81.7 million people aged 15 to 59 were excluded from the labor market, of whom 57.1 million were women, with indicators worse among members of indigenous communities.
Also presented during Monday’s sessions was the book titled “Inequalities, Labor Integration and the Future of Work in Latin America,” which focuses on the challenges of creating employment opportunities for women, youth, Afro-descendants and indigenous peoples.
The text proposes strategies with a territorial approach to articulate macroeconomic efforts, productive development, and labor and social protection policies.
The third regional seminar on social inclusion will address issues such as the commitment to end child labour, the fight against informality and the role of education in facilitating young people’s access to decent employment.
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